Manfrotto creates 'Klyp' case for adding lighting and tripods to the iPhone

Manfrotto has announced the Klyp, an iPhone case that allows the use of mini tripods and LED lighting panels. The company rather entertainingly talks in terms of turning the iPhone into 'a complete and professional camera,' but the ability to attach supports and lighting will undoubtedly be useful. The case allows accessories to be clipped-on at various points around the phone, allowing use in different orientations, and packages are available that include the company's compact LED light panels. The case, which fits the iPhone 4 and 4S, will retail for around £25, with lighting a tripod bundles also available.

Press Release:

Want better looking friends?KLYPIT…OR MISS IT!

Manfrotto presents KLYP,the first accessory that turns your iPhone into a professional camera

For brighter movies and pictures, just KLYP!

London, 27 September 2012 - Manfrotto, world leader in the equipment and accessories industry for photography and imaging, is proud to announce the launch of KLYP: a revolutionary and stylish solution designed to transform the iPhone 4 and 4s into a complete and professional camera.

The new product consists of a special iPhone case equipped with two adaptor clips ready to host two of the most iconic products in the Manfrotto range for social recorders: POCKET tripods and LED lights.

With the launch of KLYP, Manfrotto further reinforces the connection between photography and mobile devices, allowing photographers to capture the moment wherever they are and whenever they want, as the greatest advantage offered by smartphones is that they are ‘always on’.

A staggering 3,500 photos are uploaded to Facebook every second, equivalent to 300 million photos every day. A significant proportion of these are taken with the iPhone and now KLYP.

KLYP can help people improve the quality of the photos by optimizing light and sharpness of images.

KLYP will be available in-store from the 1st October in leading retailers including John Lewis, selected Selfridges, Calumet, Dixons Travel, Warehouse Express, Amazon and leading independent retailers and will come in five distinctive kits:

case with two adaptor clips to enable use of supports and lights;

case complete with ML240 LED light for videography, FaceTime and photography in low light;

case complete with ML240 LED light and Manfrotto POCKET tripod for support out and about;

case complete with compact ML120 LED light;

case complete with ML120 LED light and Manfrotto POCKET tripod.

Prices for KLYPstart from £24.95.

The two removable “clips” can be attached to any of four different points around the case to allow both landscape and portrait images. This allows the Manfrotto LED light to be added in the optimum position to fill in shadows when shooting stills or video in low light conditions.

The KLYP case has been developed by Manfrotto with a unique rail system, which enables the case to remain sleek and have no protrusions to detract from its appearance whilst still allowing full access to all iPhone functions.

“With the launch of KLYP, Manfrotto takes its very first steps into a new industry, the one of mobile phone accessories, enriching the market with its unique heritage and expertise in the imaging field,” comments Marco Pezzana, Manfrotto CEO.

Comments

Annoyingly, I got a brand new iPhone 4S just last week - and still have my previous iPhone 4, unlocked. And I've already bought a case. Had I seen this first, I would almost certainly have gone for it. Actually, I might anyway!

Another Apple hater in denial. 2-3 every week eh? If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, don;t exaggerate. The main reason is that it is a popular phone and people will look to coverage of a phone they already have.

Right, this seems to be the only reason why DPreview jumped on the bandwagon and reports every little news about the Iphone like most gadget and tech sites. It just looks like "me too". I rather read really photography related news than having some news report every day about some device that can take photos but isn´t a camera.

epo001 - it has nothing to do with hate. I don´t care about the Iphone or any other phone regardless which OS is running or how many MP it has. You said it yourself - it´s a phone. Not a camera. But this is a site about digital photography and reviewing dedicated cameras. Not phones capable of taking photos. If one wants infos about a phone(be it popular or not), he should visit a phone site. Period.Only just because it´s "popular" a dedicated photography shouldn´t give phones with cameras too much room. Otherwise it´s quantity rather than quality that counts - and that would be a shame.

Yes it does. You're Apple haters. The iPhone is the #1 camera used on Flickr. The percentage of iPhone news or articles on this site is probably much less than 1%, yet even that is too much for haters.

That is maybe because the personal vanity of social showing off on social networks. There are more photographers off flickr, than in !!!!!!There are not all the non_iPhone_owners , ..... Apple haters, personally i use a mac book but i would never ever buy an iPhone

Well, the fact that a iPhone is the #1 camera on Flickr says everything about the current "quality" of the site. Compare it with a real photography site like 500px and you know what I'm talking about.If dp wants to play fair, it ought review android phones and tablets. Acting this way is clearly a biased posture.

And NO, I'm not a Apple hater. I just know how to spend my hard earned money wisely.

Too bad Manfrotto's development is a tad too late...for iPhone 5, that is. Manfrotto should be developing these accessories not based on a case but rather something that can be hooked-up to any smartphone with a camera.

A group was holding demonstration and press conference outside my office yesterday and when I passed by them I thought I saw a NEX being used to record the event but the lens was off center. I walked closer and realized it is a iPhone in a lens & tripod case. That zoom lens is the size of Olympus 12-50

iPhone the camera that you have with you all the time along with this case clip, mini tripods, flash and led panels. If I had an iPhone I'd buy all this gear too so I could leave my camera kit at home.

This kit along with one of those tent pole, compact style, tripods in a small bag under the front seat or in the trunk would make for a decent travel solution. I'd buy this if I could afford the carrying costs of owning an iPhone5. Alas, I'll have to make due with my Samsung WB150F for now as a compact travel camera.

I couldn't agree more about your comment that "I'd buy this if I could afford the carrying costs of owning an iPhone5". The total cost of using an iPhone 5 for two binding contract years is about $2,500! I guess it's the vanity thing. For me, I use a $200 Lumix digicam and a $50 LG Optimus no-contract smartphone. The Google Android OS is great, and I save more than $2,000 over two years!

Well i agree with "pro photo 2011" the contract trick to buy a device costs you a lot more, specially when buying iPhones, Windows Phones or Galaxy S 3s. A 100euro "smart"phone can do what an iPhone can do and a lot more ( 3G Video call not depending on wifi network, and bluetooth files exchanging, something iPhone 4 and 4s could NOT do ), and with 200euros more, you can have a better image quality than these , a lot people claims that with your iPhone you don't have to carry a snapshot camera, well if you have to carry these things with you a camera is a lot lighter WITH build in flash .... @RedMngroveI own an android (not worth to mention it) "stupid"phone, I've bought it for 100 euros 2 years ago, my contract was 75 euros for 4hours free calls plus some extra megabytes for free, last year i did not renew the contract i'me a "free" client last month i've paid 28 euros for the same time and about the same megabytes . I can do 3G video-calls and bluetooth file exchange

So many of you are missing the whole point. You're ignoring the reason why people shoot photographs and video using an iPhone. The very reasons that make the iPhone the most popular camera that has ever been made (Based on the number of photos taken and uploaded online).

1. People have it with them most of the time.

2. It will do things that a DSLR / pocket camera can often only do with the aid of a computer (Life effects, realtime panoramic stitching, time-lapse, slow-motion etc).

I've shot video with my iPhone with the kids. Silly little clips, time-lapse of storm clouds, stop motion clips of toys moving etc. All without a tripod, so I wish I had a case like this to make my iPhone easier to use and most importantly more fun when it's used for these fun tasks.

I'll bet you some of those who are laughing at this idea already have cases on their iPhones, except those cases do not enable them to mount an iPhone on a tripod for short video clips. So if you spend a few dollars more and gain additional capability, what is wrong with that?

In fact, I even looked at the manfrotto's US website thinking of buying it, but they apparently haven't gotten to updating it yet.

Definitely needs to be for iPhone 5 with the better camera: I'm guessing that'll happen soon.

In looking at the other comments:

I don't think it's so much gear to carry: you could leave it all in your lap-top bag easily.

And regarding the Nokia Lumina 920, it seems the only advantage it has over the iPhone 5, camera wise, is better image stabilization though the iPhone 5 camera is image stabilized as well. So, for me, it's not worth dealing with Windows (I've had Windows-based phones before: I know, this time they got it right) or losing all my iPhone/iPad apps, ability to remote control my Keynote presentations, Find my iPhone, and iCloud synch: which will keep getting better, etc.

@tkbslc - you can't equate an m4/3 camera to an iPhone. I have an E-PM1, which is very compact, but it's still not something that I will have with me all the time. A smart phone like the iPhone, on the other hand, is something that people have with them all the time. I'm sure if people could take their iPhone into the shower with them, they would! LOL.

Plus, until all cameras get WiFi and/or cellular service, you can't upload your images to Facebook or Instagram or any other social media photo service like you can an iPhone. Heck, you can't even post-process images or edit video like you can on an iPhone.

Again, are you going to have your awesome iphone accessories with you all the time like you do a phone? Doubtful. And once you've made the conscious decision to take extra crap along, that extra crap might as well be some "real" photo gear.

And since the above premise was a laptop bag, you can share photos with your laptop.

Whereas the Manfrotto proposal is: iPhone phone with Klyp case and tiny LED video light. You're using the iPhone you already have with you. And that iPhone is basically it's own photo and video editing workstation, as well as its own LTE connection device for uploading your media. No need to find a WiFi connection. No need for a laptop, no need to find a place to set up your laptop, no need to offload your media to the laptop, no need to pay an extra monthly LTE service cost for your laptop.

Hee, Hee. Quote: "Turns your iPhone into a professional camera". I've never had such a jolly good belly laugh in ages.

I suppose Manfrotto, as an Italian company, has to do something for the country as it enters melt-down in the Euro crisis. So the few Euros it will get from sales should go some way to help remedy the country's economic woes.

Except the personal vanity and the social show-off this device offers a minimal design which is canceled (according to my taste ) by this vulgar gadgets. I think an iToothbrush gadget would be more useful for this ....... "smart"phone !!!!!!!

You'd be surprised what you can do with iPhones these days. Shoot photos, edit them, crop them, adjust them, upload them. You can also do the same with video. Plus, an iPhone, a tiny light, and a tabletop tripod isn't exactly "packing gear around." You're going to have the iPhone with you anyways, right? So then it's just a matter of having that little light, and any sort of tripod device you might want.

@tkbslc - LOL. I love your premise that if you're going to bring anything with you, then you might as well bring a *lot* of it with you. Hahaha. Sorry, but even when many of us do "make a conscious decision" to bring something along with us, there are many times when we still like to keep it minimal.

At recent tech conventions, such as CES, a lot of tech bloggers have been uploading video footage or show reports from the showroom floor that have been filmed directly on smart phones. That's how good smart phones have gotten. And something like this new Manfrotto offering allows the quality to be even better because now you can attach a video light to your smart phone. You can shoot your video, edit it, and upload it, without ever having to touch a laptop.

Too bad the Nokia 920 runs Windows Phone. I would consider the 920 if is weren't for the Windows OS. Most companies make apps for iOS and Android, but not Windows Phone 8. Microsoft hasn't even released the WP8 SDK yet!

I wish Nokia had the balls to introduce an Android version of the 920. Their sales would be huge. Instead, they put all their eggs into the Windows basket. It's a great phone, but a lot of people just don't want WP8.

T3, most of the WP7 apps will work on WP8. Personally, I haven't found any app that I would miss on WP platform, and the market is changing.There are already plenty of Android phones out there. I probably wouldn't even notice the 920 if it was on Android.

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